Tim Cook Interviews Armando Correa For People En Español

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Six years ago, Tim Cook, who took charge of Apple after the death of its founder, Steve Jobs, called renowned CNN presenter Anderson Cooper to meet him for the first time. Cook was about to make a decision that was going to go around the world. “My style is that when I am doing something complex that I have never done before, I always try to make a list of those who have come before me and approach it that way,” he explains.

What he was really doing was more than complex. Cook, 59, had decided to publish a column in which he would tell the world that he is gay, making him the first and then the only director of one of the world's 500 largest companies to come out of the closet. Five years later, with his slow voice and a slight smile, he assures: “I have not regretted it for a minute. Not at all.

On the fourth floor of Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, CA - a spacecraft-shaped neofuturist ring surrounded by mountains and trees dreamed of by Jobs and designed by revered architect Norman Foster - Cook greeted me with a handshake.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

"How are the family, your children?" He asked. We had met a year earlier when Apple invited me during Hispanic Heritage Month to present my novel The German Girl and talk about my career.

A few days before this second meeting, Cook had made headlines again by signing a petition addressed to the United States Supreme Court in favor of the DREAMers, young people benefiting from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). English), which for now protects them from being deported. At Apple alone, there are 443 DREAMers employees spread across 36 states.

This was the first time Cook gave an interview to a Hispanic media outlet in the United States.

Why, five years ago, did someone as private as you decide to publish such a personal column about their sexual orientation?

What drove me was that I was getting notes from guys struggling with their sexual orientation. They were depressed. Some said they had suicidal thoughts. Some had been abandoned by their own parents and family. And that weighed on me, as far as what I could do. Obviously, I couldn't speak to everyone who wrote to me individually, but you know that if you have people contacting you, there are many more who don't, who are out there wondering if they have a future or not, if life is going to improve.. I started reflecting on that and thinking about what Dr. [Martin Luther] King was saying about the most pressing question in life. There have been many people who have come before me who have made it possible for me to be sitting here today and needed to do something to help a younger generation move forward,to go further. So I decided to write and hence the issue was how, where and when to do it. It probably took me a year between finding the words as I wanted to express them, and choosing the right time for the company, because I didn't want it to be a distraction. I haven't regretted it for a minute. Not at all".

Let's go back five years, what was your main fear in publishing that column?

I don't know if I really had a fear. What I thought, what I considered was the company. Not so much if I was going to have the support, because I assumed we have a very open employee base. I didn't worry about it.

Nationally or internationally?

To be honest, I didn't care within Apple. But outside of Apple, yes, because the world is not yet a welcoming place for gay or trans people in many countries, and not only in other geographies, but also within our country. In more or less half of the states [in this country], you can be fired for being gay or trans. So if I didn't care about myself, individually, I did think about the people I travel with and if they would be safe.

What was the response of the board of directors?

I said to them: 'Look, I want to do this, this is how I want to do it, but if any of you is against it, I stop…'. They unanimously supported him.

Was it a surprise for you?

What will support me? No. I anticipated that they would. I honestly never thought they didn't. Apple was giving benefits to [gay] couples before anyone else, right? The company has a history of being open and diverse. I contacted Anderson Cooper because he was looking for examples of people who had come out of the closet. I thought it would be more similar to my way of thinking. He was one of the people that I had identified and I coordinated a meeting. I didn't know what it was about. We had never met before. It was an interesting talk. I spoke to him several times that year to ask him for advice on different things and we have been friends ever since.

Were you in shock at that time?

I can't say I was in shock, but I'm sure I didn't expect it. My style is that when I am doing something complex, which I have never done before, I always try to make a list of those who have come before me and approach it that way. I have done this several times and he was first on the list. So I called him and I was lucky enough that he met me. It was very open.

I remember when I read the column, one of the phrases that most surprised me was: "I am proud to be gay and I consider that being gay is one of the greatest gifts that God has given me."

Yes, I firmly believe that. There are many meanings behind this. First: it was His decision, not mine. Second: at least for me, I can only speak for myself, it gives me a level of empathy that I think is higher than average because being gay or trans you belong to a minority. And I think that when you are a majority, although intellectually you can understand what it means to be a minority, it is just something intellectual. For me being in the minority is not something intellectual. I am not saying that I understand the trials and tribulations of every minority group, because it is not. But it does give me a perspective on how others feel, I think it is a gift in itself.

Educating children is important, but what is the message for parents? Because in the end it all starts at home

That is a good question. Some parents - I know because they have contacted me - struggle with [it], they think that their son's potential is less because he is gay or trans. They think that they will not be able to achieve [their goals]. They think they are going to be intimidated, assaulted. They think it is almost a life sentence, not to have a good life, a happy life. My message to them is that it doesn't have to be this way. It all starts with them, because if they treat their child with respect and dignity, just as we treat each other - it's essential that we all treat each other with respect and dignity - that child can do whatever he wants, including being the CEO of Apple or be president, or whatever you want. Being gay is not a limitation. It is a feature.

Speaking of minorities, you just signed a petition in favor of the DREAMers where you say that "diversity is important for creativity". That perspective changes the story about these young people. Why?

Well it's true. Above all, we know that we create better products by being more diverse. We know that the best products are created by the most diverse teams. Products are created for everyone. You want people with a different perspective on the world and on different topics, united to create. And [the DREAMers] are as American as I am.

We have talked about helping DREAMers, advice to children and young people who debate whether to get out of the closet, but one of Apple's passions is the environment

We mapped out, what some thought was a crazy goal, to get Apple to run on 100 percent renewable energy. We did this two years ago and have been operating the company 100 percent with renewable energy. So we decided to set the next crazy target to do the same for our distribution chain and by next year we will have six gigawatts of renewable energy in our distribution chain. That is, solar, wind and a little hydro [electric], but primarily solar and wind. We have done other things, like there are a lot of recyclable parts here [points to the iPhone 11], a lot of recyclable material here… Our final goal is not to extract anything from the ground, from the trees or from anything, but to use all kinds of recycled material to build our products.

We certainly haven't gotten to that point yet, but it's our next crazy goal along that line. I think we can achieve it.

In closing, what is your message to the guys who want to come out of the closet?

That life improves, that you can have a wonderful life, full of joy. [Being] gay or trans is not a limitation. It is a characteristic that, I hope, they see as I do, as the greatest gift of God. That's what I hope, that message gets out there to all young people who are struggling with their identity and are not sure that they are strong enough or good enough because they have made them feel inferior in some way - or worse, marginalized. It does not have to be this way. Those who are thinking about how they should treat people who are gay or trans, the basic message is: be kind, kind. Treat each other with kindness, dignity and respect.